According
to the report, which quickly caught the attention of religious groups,
organizations wanting government funding next year through the program must attest
they respect, among other things, reproductive rights, sexual orientation and
gender expression.

The form
goes on to say that “the objective of the change it is to prevent Government of
Canada funding from flowing” to organizations that don’t respect these rights.

The
objective of this change is to “prevent Government of Canada funding from
flowing to organizations whose mandates or projects may not respect individual
human rights, the values underlying the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and
associated case law.”

The
government also wants to prevent youth “from being exposed to employment within
organizations that may promote positions that are contrary” to these rights and
values.

The form
notes that being “affiliated with a religion does not itself constitute
ineligibility for this program.” However, all groups must sign the attestation
to be eligible for funding.

Religious Reaction

The
reaction from religious organizations was swift and critical.

“We're
deeply concerned that this new policy violates the Charter guarantees of
religious freedom, thought, belief, opinion, and possibly, association,” says
David Guretzki, Executive Vice President of the Evangelical Fellowship of
Canada.

“It is
also contrary to the long tradition of cooperation and collaboration between
religious organizations and governments in Canada,” he adds.

The
change could have a serious negative impact on the many thousands of Canadians
who depend on services from local charities, since many of them are
faith-based, he adds.

Barry
Bussey, Director of Legal Affairs for the Canadian Council of Christian
Charities, an umbrella group for 3,300 Christian charities, is also
disappointed.

For him, it’s a “a rejection of the legal rights, enshrined in the
Charter, that religious communities and individuals hold to express their
religious commitments in public service. These rights are relied upon to run
private Christian schools, summer camps, soup kitchens and other welfare
agencies.”

“I
have a problem with that, when the government is making funding subject to
whether groups agree with its ideas,” he adds.

The
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is also concerned, and is “trying to
see what can be done [about the stipulations] with other like-minded groups,”
communications director Deacon René Laprise, told the Catholic Register.

The Campaign
Life Coalition, a pro-life organization, has initiated a petition opposing the
new rules.

On its LifeSite website, senior
political strategist Jack Fonseca blasted the government for what he called a
“blatant anti-Christian bias.”

“This is a jaw-dropping act of
discrimination against faith-based employers and non-profits,” he stated,
noting that it signals a “special contempt for Christians.”

Phil
Horgan, president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, told the Register that Catholic groups must not
sign the attestation, “even at the risk of rejection.”

In
addition to the effect on religious organizations, concerned was expressed
about business owners whose own individual beliefs might make it hard for them
to attest to the government’s requirements.

Among the
groups were the Salvation Army, the Manitoba Islamic Association, Union Gospel
Mission, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Living Bible Explorers and Calvary
Temple.

Part of a Shifting Context

For
pollster Angus Reid, the change to the summer jobs grant program is another
illustration of the way Canadian society’s view of religion is changing.

Based on surveys of Canadian attitudes towards
religion, he says there is a “lack of deep support for religious freedom and
religious diversity,” in this country.

A recent survey found a “relatively tepid support
for the very concept of religious freedom,” he says, noting that when asked if
the freedom to practice beliefs makes Canada a better or worse country, only
55% said “better.”

The result, he says, is that political leaders
could “sense an advantage in limiting the special status enjoyed by these
organizations,” including in things like limiting their access to government funding.

It could also include restrictions on allowing people
to claim a charitable tax exemption for giving to religious organizations, or
withdrawing government support for religious schools.

“The fate of religion in Canada ultimately depends
on public attitudes,” he says, adding that recent polling shows that 45% of
Canadians are against giving religious organizations special tax status.

“The same pattern is evident on opinions about
religious schools and about regulations that would curtail the right of
religious-based hospitals to opt out of assisted dying,” he says.

It all
adds up to religion being slowly squeezed out of the public square, he
maintains.

In the
not-to-distant past, religious leaders were called upon to help make public
policy. Today, he suggests, they are increasingly being “elbowed out of policy
debates.”

But
instead of just being ignored, now the discussion is about whether “they have
any right to be in the public square at all.”

For Reid,
a practicing Catholic, this is troubling.

“How far
is Canadian society willing to go to allow religious groups to practice their
religion as they wish?” he asks.

“This is
a new era we’re into,” he states. “Religious groups need to pay attention.”

What does
he think religious groups should do?

They should “come together to lobby
government, to tell their own stories” about how they are creating value for
Canadians through their various services, he says..

“Right
now the narrative is largely being defined by the secular world.”

And if
groups can’t come together—then what?

“Then it will be a
dark chapter for religious freedom in Canada,” he says.From the Dec. 30, 2017 Winnipeg Free Press.